1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to methods and apparatus for processing checks in a retail environment and in particular to the processing, including reconciliation, automatically, in electronic form at the point-of-sale (POS) or in the back office of a retailer and/or off-site.
2. Description of Related Art
Most retailers, including department stores, food stores, large retail chains, such WAL-MART and TARGET, warehouse retailers, wholesalers, etc., accept checks in exchange for goods and/or services. Other vendors, service providers, credit card companies, property management companies, etc. as well, accept checks as a form of payment. The volume of checks received can be considerable. Generally, upon receipt of the check its monetary value is initially recorded. In addition, the checks collected for subsequent further processing, including reconciliation, leading to their deposit at the recipient's bank.
For example, in the retail environment, the retailer will first accept a check in payment at the point-of-sale (POS) register where the value is entered during the transaction by the cashier. The checks are arranged in the till in the approximate order of their receipt. The physical checks are collected at each register or till and suitably associated with the respective till and subsequently processed typically at the retail site. This processing is done to provide a check listing (add list) and/or a bank deposit slip for depositing received checks with the retailer's bank. The check processing would normally require that there be a reconciliation of the accepted checks with point-of-sale data generated at, e.g., the register where the check was received at the retail establishment, if such data is available.
In the retail environment, reconciling checks includes confirming that the amount written on the check corresponds to the check amount that was entered into the register at the point-of-sale (hereafter such a register is referred to as a POS register). For example, a key usually is pressed on the POS register indicating that a particular transaction is being paid for by a check. A log is created and stored in memory indicating the checks received, their respective amount and the particular POS register where received.
Later, in the back office, a bank deposit slip and/or a check listing to accompany the slip is prepared listing all of the checks received and their value based on a visual read of the monetary value of each check. A total is arrived at and compared to the check read total listed on the log created as noted above. If the totals match, the checks are accepted for deposit. If the totals do not match, the log can be printed out and manually checked to determine where discrepancies may lie. Once the listing total is reconciled with the log, the accepted checks are then available for deposit.
It is not uncommon that the POS registers include a magnetic reader. These are used to read code lines which are provided at the bottom of a check. Typically the code lines are both humanly readable and machine readable by the magnetic reader and provide information which facilitates processing primarily by the banks. This information includes the bank on which the check is drawn, a routing/transit number, and the account number of the customer who wrote or made out the check. This data read from the check is generally referred to as MICR data, where MICR stands for Magnetic Ink Character Recognition. These POS registers also may print the amount of the check that was entered into the POS register on the check and include or associate the read MICR data with other data obtained by the POS register such as the transaction amount, a transaction identifier such as a transaction number, and a respective till and/or cashier identifier.
Heretofore, the use of the MICR data on the code line by a retailer has been limited. For example, it is known to provide a system in which a customer presents the cashier with a check from the customer's account so that the cashier can use data on the check in order to debit the customer's banking account. In such a system, the check is passed through a magnetic ink reader, which is used to read the MICR data from the check. This data together with the amount entered at the register is presented to the customer's bank through an appropriate communication link. The check is then returned to the customer at the POS and is considered to be canceled by the customer's financial institution. The transmitted data then is used to debit the customer's checking account for the amount of the particular transaction. This process is known as check conversion.
Various techniques employing MICR data are available for simplifying check processing. So-called drop encoders exist, which typically are used by large retail establishments, in order to process checks that have been received from customers. The device is used by an operator who reads the monetary value for each check, inputs that data to the encoder, which then prints data representative of that value onto the check on the MICR code line in magnetically-readable ink. This data including the added value, is read by financial institutions when processing the checks.
In order to be cost efficient, the operator must be able to process checks at an extremely high rate. Thus, substantial training is required to operate such encoding equipment. Some retailers use a third party, which for a fee employs specialized encoder operators, in order to accurately process checks from the retail establishment.
There also is known a check processing system that automatically “power” encodes checks using point-of-sale data. As noted above, the amount of a check is entered by a cashier at the time that the check is presented for payment. In this system, the check is passed through a MICR reader, and the cashier-inputted check amount is associated with the MICR data for that check. This data is transmitted to a database and stored. At a later time, the checks received over a predetermined transaction period are encoded by a “power” encoder that receives the data (check amount and MICR data) from the point-of-sale database. The power encoder reads the MICR data from a check that is being processed, matches it with the electronic transaction data received from the database, and then encodes the check by printing data representative of the check amount on the check, on the MICR code line, with magnetic ink.
It also is known in the banking industry to scan checks in order to obtain electronic images of the checks. The electronic images can be used within a particular bank to expedite internal processing of the checks. Further, within the industry, a number of interbank networks have been established in which participating members have agreed to debit or credit respective customer's accounts based on interpreted electronic images using agreed proofing procedures. Also, bank ATM machines will use Optical Character Recognition(OCR) software to confirm that the value entered on the check equals the amount entered on the machine, before the check is accepted.
Various techniques exist for performing character recognition on the images of checks. See, for example, US 2002/0150279A1 and US 2002/0152164A1. It also is known to provide a system for remote data acquisition and centralized processing and storage of check data. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,988.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,625 discloses an automated document cashing system that includes a reader for capturing an image of a negotiable instrument and recognizing the authorized signature as well as the amount written on the negotiable instrument. The system then transfers money in the amount of the instrument to a savings account, a checking account, a SMART card, or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,523,330 discloses a method and apparatus for processing documents, the apparatus including a unit for reading machine-readable data and for generating image data from the documents as the documents are moved along a track. The unit includes recognition circuitry that receives the image data and a portion of the machine-readable data to produce recognition data along with confidence level data relative to the recognition data for each document. A control processor is used for storing the machine-readable data, image data, recognition data and confidence level data by an identification number which is assigned thereto by the control processor for each document. A second control processor examines the confidence level data for each document to select the machine-readable data, recognition data and image data for a document having a predetermined confidence level data, and transfers the selected data to a terminal for display on an associated monitor to enable an operator to effect data completion using a keyboard associated with the terminal. After data completion, an encode and sort unit is used to further process the documents.
It also is known to combine data from checks and from a point-of-sale in order to generate a transactional database about a retailer's customers. This can be used in developing customer profiles useful in targeting and implementing advertising, marketing and promotions. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,137 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,351,735.